Never Miss A Beat
by Huebird Of Happiness
Summary: Given instruction to attend to a new student, Tamaki invites Reina into the Host Club as a friend. Kyoya's interest in this new girl seems strangely out of character. What could she possibly have that would benefit him? Reina, being just as manipulative as the Shadow King, seems to also be seeking to use Kyoya. But perhaps her reason is just boredom rather than benefit. KyoyaxOC
1. Chapter 1

Tamaki held his breath as he entered his father's large office located in the academy, just as brightly painted as every other part of the school. He wondered why his father had called him out of class to visit with him, even if it was the end of the day. As soon as he exited his classroom, he tried remembering every action he has made recently to ensure it wasn't something he did wrong.

Closing the colossal doors behind him, Tamaki noticed that in front of his father's desk, a tall man sat in one of the visitors' chairs. Dressed in a simple black suit and forest green tie, he smiled at the young host as Tamaki approached his father's desk. Behind the man's thick glasses, Tamaki saw sincerity in his eyes. Despite not being used to the genuine smile, Tamaki softly smiled back to be polite. As quickly as he smiled, he returned to a serious state as he turned to his father.

"You called for me, father?" Tamaki asked, making sure his voice was strong when he addressed his father.

Pushing his large office chair back, Chairman Suoh stood up. "Yes, thank you for coming so quickly, Tamaki." After walking around his desk, he stood behind the smiling visitor. "Son, this is Shigure Miyamoto."

Tamaki bowed his head respectfully. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"Thank you, son," Mr. Miyamoto said cheerfully. "Quite a handsome man you are! Your father must be proud," he continued, turning his head slightly to look at Tamaki's father.

"Thank you for your kind words, Mr. Miyamoto," he said nervously.

"Now, onto business," Mr. Suoh cut in. "Mr. Miyamoto is enrolling his daughter into Ouran Academy. She is your age and will be in your classes."

"I would greatly appreciate it if you would take care of my daughter, Mr. Suoh," Shigure added, he too standing up from his chair. "She has been away from Japan for a long time, assisting me with my company expansion in America, so she has no friends and may need to catch up on her studies."

"Of course, sir," Tamaki answered, politely. "I will make sure that your daughter will settle into our school comfortably."

"Excellent, excellent!" Mr. Miyamoto exclaimed happily, clapping his hands. "I understand you're a King; King of your school's own Host Club."

Tamaki simply nodded, eyeing his father from the corner of his eye. Did Chairman Suoh really bring up his club into conversation?

"Wonderful; as a profession host, I'm sure you and your friends will treat my daughter well," Shigure Miyamoto said, placing his hand on Tamaki's shoulder. "I put my trust in you."

"I won't disappoint, sir," Tamaki told the man confidently, as the hand was lifted off his shoulder.

Without another word, the visitor made his way to the door and opened it. Before stepping out, he turned back to Tamaki. "Keep your wits about you, Tamaki Suoh. My daughter can be quite spirited. She may prove to be too much for even a King such as you to handle."

"I'm sure my fellow hosts and I can manage," Tamaki retorted, confidence still prominent in his voice.

As Miyamoto turned, Tamaki heard a deep chuckle, but the man didn't say anything else before stepping out of the office and closing the door behind him.

Tamaki and his father stood in silence, staring at the door. After a moment, Tamaki turned to Chairman Suoh. "Father, do you have any information about Miss Miyamoto that I can see?"

His father smirked. "I'm sure your friend can help you. He is very knowledgeable about everything going on in this school. Quite admirable, that Ootori boy."

Kyoya pushed his glasses up his nose, the glare of light dancing on his lenses, periodically hiding his eyes before clearing. "You want me to find information on a student?"

Tamaki nodded, leaning his hands on Kyoya's desk. "Yes, I was instructed by her father to take care of her. The thing is, I don't know _anything_ about her. I don't even know her first name."

It was the next morning following Tamaki's meeting with Shigure Miyamoto, and he still hasn't asked Kyoya for his assistance. It was early; the classroom buzzing with pre-class conversation between friends.

Kyoya sighed, opening his laptop that he had placed on his desk. "It's difficult to work with little to no information, but I'll try. Do you at least know her last name?"

"Miyamoto," Tamaki told his friend, pulling a chair to him so he could sit next to Kyoya.

Quickly typing in the name, Kyoya scanned the results for a moment. "I see. Here she is –"

"Class!" the teacher's voice boomed. "Please, take your seats and allow me to introduce a new student."

The teacher waited a moment for the students to settle, and Tamaki dragged his chair back to his desk, disappointed he didn't even have a name yet, but he suspected that his curiosity will soon be answered.

"Class," the teacher began. On cue, from the side of the classroom, a young woman dressed in the powder yellow uniform stepped out. "This is Reina Miyamoto."

Tamaki observed her. She had a slim figure but Tamaki couldn't make an accurate assessment on her curves as they were hidden by the uniform. She had long, deep red hair that reached mid-back, and the tips were dyed black. It appeared that her eyes were two different colours – the right was a pale blue and the left was a soft green.

"Do you have your answer, Tamaki?" Kyoya asked as the girl made her way to the seat next to Tamaki that was emptied, by Chairman Suoh's orders.

"All I have is a name," he whispered back. "I'll need information later."

* * *

**Just a quick intro in third person. The rest of the story will be in first person either through Reina or Kyoya's perspective. I'll note at the beginning of a chapter whose it is.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! Here's the first chapter that's through first person perspectives!**

* * *

**Reina's Perspective**

* * *

The final bell rang, and I began sorting all of my textbooks into my bag. As I packed up, I saw a large shadow loom over me. I looked up to be greeted by a pair of lovely violet eyes; the same eyes of the handsome boy who sat next to me in class.

"Good afternoon, Princess," the blonde boy with violet eyes smiled and took a bow. "My name is Tamaki Suoh and I-"

"Oh yes," I smiled, warmly. Father always said that first impressions were important, so I did my best to be pleasant. "You're the boy my father asked to show me around."

After putting away my last book, I closed the clasp on my bag and stood up, smoothing the wrinkles in my dress. "My name is Reina." I saw something dark on my left, but couldn't clearly make it out due to my bad eye, so I turned my head to observe with my right. "And your friend?" I asked as I took notice to another handsome boy – tall and dark haired with glasses. Lucky me; it seems that there are many attractive boys at Ouran.

"Kyoya Ootori, Mademoiselle," he said, curtly bowing.

I gripped onto my dress and lifted it slightly to curtsy. "It's a pleasure to meet both of you."

"Normally, I manage my Host Club after school, but I closed it for today so you may meet all the hosts one-on-one. I greatly hope that you will become good friends with them," Tamaki explained with a charming grin, extending his elbow as an invitation to lock my arm with his. "I am the King, and Kyoya is my second in command, if you may."

Instead of linking arms, I gestured forward. "Lead the way, Suoh-san."

"Please, call me Tamaki," he insisted. "After all, we are going to be friends."

"Oh no, I think it's much too early to abandon formalities," I expressed quickly, and again gestured forward with my hand. _I don't trust you quite yet,_ I thought to myself. _To be honest, a boy who organizes something as idiotic as a high school Host Club can't be all there._

"Very well, Princess Miyamoto," the King stated, following my wishes of a formal friendship. "Follow me."

Walking through the school, I tried to control myself from cringing. Between the atrocious yellow dress, purple walls, and pink clock tower, I felt like this school really wasn't for me. And now my father has set me up to be friends with a _Host Club_ of all things.

_It could just have been all of my time in America, but I feel as if this isn't a proper club for a high school…_ I thought, looking between my two classmates which lead the club. _Isn't this sort of club almost like…a bawdy house? Aren't Host Clubs filled with male prostitutes? _I may be wrong, of course. It has been many years since I've been in Japan, and last I was, I was much too young to even know what a Host Club was. My minimal knowledge came from manga I would import.

I shook my head. _Father wouldn't want me to get involved with a sexual group of boys. He still won't even let me have a boyfriend, much to mother's dismay._

Standing in front of a room with the sign _Music Room #3_, Tamaki smiled widely. "We're here, Princess."

After opening the door, I saw a group of boys within the room, chatting amongst themselves, but they're conversations were cut short when they were interrupted by their King.

"Fellow Hosts," Tamaki called out cheerfully. "I'd like to introduce Miss Reina Miyamoto. Her father wants me to ensure her process of joining Ouran is as comfortable as it can be."

I took the opportunity to scan the room. There were five boys standing before me. Two were red headed twins with devilish smiles on their faces. Another was a blonde boy who looked like he wasn't even old enough to be in high school, and he was accompanied by a tall, dark, and stoic looking young man. The final brunette seemed odd to me. Very out of place; but I just couldn't put my finger on what was wrong. My previous thought came to mind again; there are _many_ attractive boys here at Ouran.

"Mademoiselle," the dark haired boy I was introduced to as Kyoya began, "meet the rest of the members of the Ouran High School Host Club.

"The Hitachiin twins – Hikaru and Kaoru. One year below us."

The twins smiled and waved at Reina from across the room. "Nice to meet you, Princess Miyamoto," they said in unison.

"Mitsukuni Haninozuka and his cousin, Takashi Morinozuka. They're a year above us."

The small blonde-haired boy gleefully ran over, a pink bunny plush in his hands. "You can call my Honey. And this is Usa-chan."

"Call me Mori," his companion stated shortly before returning to his quiet disposition.

"And finally, our newest member – Haruhi Fujioka, same class as the twins."

The brunette cheerfully waved and walked over to me. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Reina-senpai."

Just to be polite, I curtsied again, but didn't say anything.

"Would you like some Commoner's Coffee?" Tamaki asked me, smiling wide. "It's the signature drink of the Host Club."

"Commoner's Coffee?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Haruhi sighed, before explaining, "He means _instant_ coffee."

"Oh," I laughed. "Yes, I'd love some."

"Haruhi!" Tamaki shouted. "Make some Commoner's Coffee for Princess Miyamoto!"

He groaned and waved his hand. "Alright, alright. Calm down, senpai."

Haruhi led me over to where he prepared the coffee, the Hitachiin twins followed behind.

Setting the powder into a mug and turning on the pot of water, Haruhi turned toward me. "So, Reina-senpai, this is your first year in Ouran, yet you're in second year?"

"Yeah, that's right. I would've enrolled last year, but I was helping my dad with the business in America," I explained, just as the pot whistled. Haruhi poured the hot water into each mug as I continued. "I had kept up with my studies in America, though, so I wasn't held back a grade."

"That's pretty cool," one of the twins said, resting his arm on my left shoulder, but I couldn't make out his expression that well.

"So, what's your father's business if you don't mind us asking?" the other added, mirroring the movement on my other shoulder.

"Oh, I doubt it would interest any of you," I said softly, taking the mug from Haruhi as he handed it to me. I took a spoon and stirred the coffee.

"I'd like to know what Rei-chan's father does for a living," Honey-semai smiled, grabbing a piece of cake that lay on the table. "You too, right Takashi?"

"Yeah," Mori-senpai simply stated.

"If we're going to be friends, we need to know what your family is renowned for!" Tamaki exclaimed.

Instead of hearing another demand, I just saw Kyoya smirk as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. The glare from the light blocked his eyes.

Before explaining, I took a sip of coffee. "Well, my father is a video game developer and we –"

"Wait!" a twin interrupted, jumping in front of me with his brother, who added "Miyamoto? As in _Shigure Miyamoto_?" Then the two of them excitedly exclaimed together, "President of Sakura Studio?"

I grinned; I was so happy that someone in this school actually liked video games. I thought all these snobs would think it not worth their time. "Yup. That's my father."

They both eagerly pulled out handheld gaming systems from their pockets. "No way! We own all your games!"

"Oh, that's awesome," I exclaimed, happily. "When we have betas, I'll be sure to let you guys try them out!"

The twins cheered and danced around, chanting _beta testers_ over and over in a sing-song voice.

I felt a hand on my left shoulder and jumped, not being able to see them approach. I had almost dropped the instant coffee I held in my hands.

"I'm sorry, Madamoiselle," I heard a voice that I believed to be Kyoya's say. I was proved correct when I turned my head. "I didn't startle you, did I?"

"No, pay no mind to it," I lied. "I'm just a tad jumpy."

"As I was about to say, now that we know of your father's employment, I was wondering about that of your mother."

Kyoya calmly stepped back when he saw my eyes narrow in anger. "Don't bring up my mother," I hissed.

"Do you and your mother not get along?" Haruhi asked, drinking some coffee afterward. She then looked sadly into her cup.

"It's not that we don't get along in general," I began, placing my coffee onto a table. I sighed. "Lately, she's just been ignorant to the fact that my loyalty and passion lies completely within Sakura Studio."

"Is she asking otherwise of you?" Tamaki asked, his eyes sad.

"After I was born, my parents' separate companies began expanding, so they didn't have enough time to have another child," I explained. "I'm the only heir, but there are two companies. And my mom doesn't want to sell hers, so she's been trying to convince me to side with her. But her company, although similar to my father's somewhat, simply doesn't interest me."

"What _does_ your mother do?" the twins asked together.

"My mother is the CEO of Kinome Computers," I sighed.

A snapping sound echoed through the music room, and we all turned to Kyoya, who snapped his pen in half while writing in his small, black book.

"Your mother," he muttered. "Is Akiko Taniguchi?"

"Yes," I nodded. "She's been trying so hard to get me to join her. Trying to show me suitors that would bring me great power and influence if I marry them, giving me charts of profit comparisons between the two companies, degrading my father's work in comparison to hers… But she just doesn't understand that I am so passionate about my father's line of work. I've been so involved in it since a young age. While in America with him, I overlooked planning, development, advertisement… I even spoke on behalf of the company at major conventions. And I loved every single minute of it."

The Host Club stayed silent as they listened to me speak.

"My father worked his ass off trying to build this company from the ground up. He's come so far. I only wish I were born a boy so that I could carry on the Miyamoto name, and pass it onto my children, in hopes to make it a legacy. I know it's what my father would want. The only one more passionate about Sakura Studio other than me is obviously him. It's his life's work." I smiled softly to myself, thinking about the look on my father's face when he worked. With one look at him, you could tell he loved what he did. "I want to make him proud."

"Such a beautiful story," the Hitachiin twins sobbed, holding handkerchiefs to their faces.

Tamaki embraced me, tears streaming down his face. "I only wish I could have a fraction of your passion, Princess Miyamoto…"

"Wow, senpai," Haruhi smiled. "That's really awesome how much you care about your dad's company. It must be a lot of hard work, though."

I beamed at the brunette and nodded. "It was Confucius who wrote: _'Choose a job you love, and you will never have work a day in your life'_." I rummaged through my bag and pulled out my wallet. From inside the wallet, I pulled out a small piece of paper. "I happened to get that fortune once when I had Chinese food in the States. It made me smile, so I make sure to keep it on me at all times."

"Fortune?" Tamaki asked, looking at the piece of paper.

"Americans had created a tradition to serve Fortune Cookies at Chinese-American restaurants. The cookies themselves aren't that delicious, but everyone likes getting the little slip of paper that holds their fortune inside," I explained, showing everyone the piece of paper. "They usually have little bits of wisdom, usually from Confucius. It depends on the company, though."

"What interesting traditions American commoners have," Tamaki mused as he examined the fortune. "Who would think to put a piece of paper within a cookie…?"

I slide the fortune back into my wallet. "Well, that's my story."

"You lived the life of a commoner while in the States, did you not?" Tamaki asked, eyeing me.

"Yes. Father and I wanted to reserve as much money as possible just in case," I explained.

"So, you must not have eaten in a fancy restaurant in a while?" the twins asked.

I shook my head.

"Then it's decided!" Tamaki declared. "Tonight the Host Club will be having dinner with you. Where would you like to dine, Princess?"

"Guys, I really don't think I can afford any of your fancy food," Haruhi grumbled.

"Don't be silly, Haruhi," Tamaki smiled. "I suggested this outing, so it's entirely my treat."

"Well, how could I say no to free food?" I laughed. "So it's my decision, huh…?"

The Hosts watched me in anticipation as I tried to decide on where to go.

"Well, it's been a long time since I've had decent sushi…," I murmured to myself. "Is Iwasaki's still around?"

"I know that place," Honey-senpai chimed in. "They have really yummy sushi. And they have yummy desserts, too!" His smile was wide and innocent.

"We've come to a decision," Tamaki smiled. "Tonight, we will dine at Iwasaki's!"

"Not to be rude, boss," one of the twins – I believe it was Hikaru – began.

"But we can't just go to a place like that in our uniforms," Kaoru finished.

Haruhi and I frowned.

"I don't have anything nice enough to eat out," Haruhi sighed.

"And most of my stuff is still in boxes," I added.

"Not to worry!" the twins exclaimed happily in unison. "We'll get some of our mom's dresses for you two!"

As I cocked up my eyebrow in confusion, the colour faded from the twins and Tamaki's faces.

"Why…," I began softly. "Would Haruhi need a dress?"

"You _idiots_!" Tamaki screeched. "Can't you two keep your mouth closed?"

"We're sorry! We're sorry!" the cried back.

"Guys, it's okay," Haruhi sighed. "I'm sure Reina-senpai will keep my secret." Haruhi then turned to me and smiled. "You see, I'm actually a girl. But I owe the Host Club a lot of money, so I'm disguised as a guy to work off my debt as a Host."

"Well, that explains why I thought you were odd," I giggled. "Your eyes were so big and pretty; it makes much more sense that you're a girl."

* * *

**Kyoya's Perspective**

* * *

The twins decided they would get clothes sent over for all of us, just to save time. As we waited in the music room for the clothing to arrive, Reina told us more about herself. I myself was seated off to the side, listening, but not in direct conversation, my black book in hand.

Tamaki was enjoying himself, listening to her descriptions of her 'commoner' life-style while she lived in the United States. His eyes were wide and filled with intrigue – jaw open in awe.

"So, you pay once for entrance, and you can go as many rides as you want as many times as you want?" Tamaki asked in wonder when Reina began discussing the huge amusement parks there were. He leaned in further; something Tamaki tends to do often when he finds interest in conversation.

"Yeah, and some places even have water parks in them too," she continued, smiling brightly at her memories of America. Her Japanese was slightly choppy – understandable. She's been absent from the country for about four years, according to my research. "But you still have to pay for food and games."

"Games?" the twins chorused. Their voices were hinted with interest. It's only natural though – the Hitachiin brothers were known for playing games after all.

"There are a couple of games that need multiple players to win stuff; I think those are most satisfying, knowing you beat everyone else. But there are a lot of carnival games you can play to win prizes," Reina's voice slightly lowered in pitch, and everything she said was said with more gravity than before. "They're usually stuffed animals, though. But some of them are _huuuuge_!" she added, her voice again rising a pitch – her more carefree persona having returned. She enthusiastically extending her arms to highlight size, and I took notice to her hands as they waved about. "One time when I was really little, daddy won at this game where you throw softballs into milk cans, and he won me this _giant_ stuffed cow! It's so cute; my favourite. I have a bunch of cow plushies."

I smiled to myself and shook my head. The Hosts can be so engrossed with the simplest of discussion. I turned my head back down to my book, writing down random things she spoke of that gave me details to her personality. You never know what could be useful in the future.

_She seems to be very energetic._ I jotted into my notebook. _Also, whenever she discusses games, her tone becomes more serious. She must be very competitive about everything, including carnival games. Likes cows. Her nails are neatly kept and painted in a French manicure style – she has a feminine side to her, though her boyish tone and actions show that she wants people to think otherwise._

"And they had these desserts called Funnel Cakes," I heard Reina continue, her tone becoming more excited regarding the topic of confections. "They were this big nests of fried dough-" She made her fingers curve to show a large circle. "-and they were filled with ice cream and covered with icing sugar, strawberries, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup! They were so delicious; sometimes I would go all the way to the theme park just to have one."

_General sweet-tooth_, I added to the list while smirking to myself.

Honey-senpai's eyes twinkled with delight. Although he was slightly interested in her discussion regarding the stuffed animals, the mention of sweets had grabbed the young Haninozuka's undivided attention. "That sounds yummy…" He then began to tug on Mori-senpai's sleeve enthusiastically, looking up at him with cute eyes. "We should try one of those someday, huh, Takashi?"

"Yeah," was his simply reply. Mori's actions are always so quick and to the point, I've made habit not to pay much attention to what he says. His eyes were always glazed over – face always held a serious expression.

"I have to admit, I like them so much because I love strawberries and chocolate."

"Me too!" Honey-senpai cheered. She hit the nail right on the head with that one. She and Honey-senpai will get along swimmingly.

_Favourite fruit: strawberries. Chocoholic._

It was interesting how she was able to capture all of the Hosts interests in a simple conversation topic – Tamaki's interest of commoner pastime, the twins' fondness of games, and Honey-senpai's love of sweets. If only she could interest me.

"The clothes are here!" the twins cheered as a bunch of clothing racks were wheeled in.

There were two racks of women's clothes whereas there were four of men's; it makes sense since there are six of us who have to choose from everything. The twins had all our measurements down, so there were groups of clothes that corresponded to everyone's sizes.

"Haruhi, want me to help you pick something out?" I heard Reina ask.

"That'd be great," Haruhi replied, chuckling to herself. "I'm not really an expert on this stuff."

As the ladies decided on their clothing, I browsed through the options available to me. I didn't care too much, so I picked out a dark pair of jeans, a light shirt, and a dark jacket. Folding the clothes neatly over my arm, I began to walk to the room where we had the changing curtain.

"What are you going to wear, Reina-senpai?" By this point I've walked past them, so I couldn't see what they were doing.

"I don't know… Maybe something violet… Or a rich lilac."

I pulled out my notebook again and quickly jotted down _Favourite colour: purple_.

After changing, I returned to the main room.

Haruhi looked at the sundress that Reina had picked out for her and cocked her eyebrow up perplexedly. "Why do people always choose pink dresses for me?" she asked.

"Well, you're cute, so the innocent colour really compliments you well, I guess," Reina responded happily, holding the dress against Haruhi's body. "What do you boys think?"

The twins, Honey-senpai, and Tamaki all gave thumbs up of approval. "You have excellent taste, Princess Miyamoto," Tamaki answered.

"Go change, Haruhi," she instructed. "I'm still deciding on my dress."

Haruhi nodded before disappearing into the backroom where the changing room was.

Reina picked out three dresses and hanged them at an angle so she could see the entire dress. She pondered for a moment and put away the blue dress, mumbling something to herself. The final two dresses were similar, so she moved onto the rack where a few shoes were. I suppose she was going to pick a dress based on what shoes she wished to wear. Her eyes darted to a pair of white gladiator-style sandals, so she picked them up and held them in front of her to compare dress to dress.

As she was deciding on a dress, I approached Reina. "Pardon me, Miss Miyamoto." She jumped up in a quick panic before composing herself again.

_She seems to jump whenever I approach her from the side. _I jotted down. _Perhaps a blind side? Or maybe she's just an airhead and doesn't notice when people approach her._

"What is it, Ootori-san?" she asked.

I frowned. "Please, just Kyoya," I told her.

"Kyoya-san," she said forcefully. "That's as informal as I'm going."

"I guess I can live with that," I said simply. "Ah, yes. I was just going to say Haruhi is finished changing, so you should make your decision quickly."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Kyoya-san," she replied, a faint blush of embarrassment on her face. "I don't mean to keep you all waiting."

She grabbed the lavender dress and left behind the white one and briskly walked toward the backroom.

"Kyoya, you embarrassed her," Tamaki scolded. "She was just trying to look her best because she doesn't want to embarrass us at the restaurant."

"You don't know that," I rolled my eyes.

"Yes we do," the twins chorused. "She said so a few minutes ago."

"You should apologize to her, Kyo-chan," Honey-senpai told me.

"Yeah," Mori-senpai added.

I sighed at all of them. "Very well."

When I opened the door, I didn't see much before I heard a shrill scream from Reina, followed by a "Close the door!"

The twins burst into laughter at the other side of the room. "Senpai's a Peeping Tom!"

"How was I supposed to know she wasn't behind the curtain?" I growled at them as my blush started to settle.

"I-I'm sorry…," I heard Reina say softly. I turned around to see her dressed, but she was hiding behind the door, her face flushed. "I was just trying to hurry up to make sure I didn't keep you waiting, so I changed right away… I didn't think anyone was going to check up on me… I'm sorry…"

"Not to worry, Miss Miyamoto," I told her. "I was just coming to apologize for my previous rude comment, but I ended up having something else to apologize for."

She shook her head. "Entirely my fault," she told me as she stepped out from the room.

"Wow, you look great Rei-chan!" Honey-senpai smiled.

Hikaru and Kaoru gave a double thumbs-up each and smiled.

"Who knew a tomboy like you-"

"-would have such an eye for fashion."

She smiled and spun around. She wore the lavender dress she picked out with the white sandals. The top of the dress was low-cut and a deeper shade of purple, but the colour faded into a light lavender gradient as it reached the bottom, which cut at about her knees. I noticed her toes were painted purple, reinforcing my previous impression that she was much more feminine than she wanted to appear. Her nail-colour must have been why she abandoned the blue dress she had picked out earlier.

I smirked to myself and chuckled as I took out my notebook. _Loves others' praise when it comes to her feminine side; she must like to know that her work is noticed since she's usually noted for her work in video games._

I thought of a few moments earlier when I had walked in on her and chuckled again. _I find it odd that a girl who wears such fancy lingerie gets so flustered and embarrassed when a man sees her in it._

* * *

Reina had a much fuller figure than I had first noticed in just her uniform. It became apparent to me when she leaned in to pick up a piece of sashimi to place on her plate and I got an eyeful of her cleavage.

"You seem to be in pretty good shape for someone who plays video games all the time," Haruhi noted.

"Well, since I was highly involved in advertisement and presentation, my dad made sure to keep me active so I would give off a more positive look for the company," she explained, and then put some sashimi into her mouth. "Our target demographic _is_ teenage boys after all, so I have to cater to their likes, which is this." She gestured to her body. "Also, even though the female demographic is pretty abysmal in comparison, I have to be a desirable role-model. Like how models are always exceptionally beautiful. No one wants to buy a product advertised by someone who doesn't fit society's wants and needs."

I shrugged. "I really doubt appearance is really as important in the video gaming industry as you make it out to be." _It's just game design_, I thought to myself. _It's not all that difficult._

"Oh please," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "They had an entire _contest_ on who the model for Lollipop Chainsaw would be. All to cater to the male demographic. And now she's super popular among the gaming community just because she has a hot body."

I shrugged and continued eating.

"You know, I don't appreciate how you look down on what I do just because it's not as _sophisticated_ as what all of your families are known for," she scowled, making air-quotations at the word sophisticated.

"He didn't mean anything by it, Reina," Tamaki insisted worriedly. Reina had given up on asking Tamaki to address her formally, so Tamaki now referred to her as Reina, although she still called him Tamaki-san.

"If you say so," Reina sighed. She glanced over at my plate as I ate. "That's quite a lot of sushi. Aren't you going to save room for dessert?"

"I don't like sweets," I told her.

"Don't like sweets?" she asked exasperatedly. "Then what _do_ you like?"

"Anything spicy," I added simply.

A mischievous smile formed on her lips. "Anything spicy, huh?"

I nodded.

"And would you say you have a high tolerance to spicy food?"

"Yes, I would say I can have quite a lot."

Another look of mischievousness flashed in her eyes, and she waved to a waiter to call them over. "Then how about we have a little bet?"

"A bet?"

The whole table was quiet as Reina whispered something to the waiter. He nodded and left.

"Yes, a bet," she continued. "I happen to like spicy food quite a lot myself."

"So, what's the bet?" I asked.

The waiter returned with a tray with a bunch of random items on it. There were glasses of milk, crackers, and bowls filled with a light green substance. I frowned once I realized what was in the bowls.

"There's two bowls of wasabi here," she explained. "I'm going to bet you 175,000¥ that I can eat more wasabi than you can before cracking."

"You're ridiculous," I sneered. Her competitiveness knew no bounds. "Why would you think I would go along with this stupid bet?"

She pouted. "Aw, I thought the great Kyoya Ootori wouldn't back away from a challenge," she said with a mocking tone. "I guess you're just not _man_ enough."

I balled my hands into fists. Does she really get off on this? Taunting others into complying with her silly games? "That has nothing to do with it. There's simply nothing to gain."

"Well, you'd get an extra 175,000¥. I know it's pocket change to people like us, but what there really is to gain here is bragging rights," she said with a smirk. "And if you back away without even trying, I get the bragging rights that say that Kyoya Ootori was too much of a _pussy_ to accept my challenge."

I clenched my teeth before sighing. If either way I'm reduced to her mockery, I might as well put up a fight. "Fine. What are the rules?"

She grinned evilly and placed a bowl of wasabi in front of me with a tablespoon and did the same in front of her. "We each take one heaped tablespoon of wasabi at the same time. The first one who reaches for something to douse the heat will lose." She turned towards the others. "If you guys want, you can place bets against each other, or add to the pot."

"I have no money to bet," Haruhi began. "But I think Kyoya-senpai might win."

"Hey boss," Hikaru smiled, looking at Tamaki. "We already know you'll root for Kyoya-senpai."

"So how about the loser adds to the pot?" Kaoru added.

"80,000¥. If Kyoya-senpai wins, we'll ante up. But if Reina-senpai wins, you pay up," they finished together.

Tamaki reluctantly nodded.

"Go Rei-chan!" Honey-senpai cheered. Mori-senpai remained quiet.

She's really getting everyone involved in this. There's no backing out now.

"Here we go, Kyoya-san," she said, holding a massed tablespoon full of wasabi in front of her lips.

I mirrored her actions. Tamaki gave the first count down and I closed my eyes as I plunged the spoon into my mouth.

My eyes clamped shut and I dug one of my hands into my leg as the searing heat from the wasabi filled my mouth. I could feel the heat in every inch of my mouth and it burned.

"Don't forget to swallow, Kyoya-san," I heard Reina say with a calm voice. I opened my eyes to see her smirking at me as she lowered her spoon to the bowl to scoop up another spoonful.

Her cheeks were red and her eyes were watering, but she was holding a confident grin and remained composed. "Ready for Round Two?" she laughed.

Grudgingly, I filled my second spoon up. This time the twins gave the count down. This time I kept my eyes open to glare at Reina as I took the spoon into my mouth. Searing didn't even define this pain anymore. My nose and sinuses were stinging and I was unwillingly crying from the heat.

Although Reina's eyes were watering as well, she gave me a smug look. And it enraged me. She though my reaction to the pain was pathetic. Her eyes screamed it.

"Round Three?" she asked, unable to mask that her voice was coarse.

We both dipped our spoons in again and Haruhi gave the countdown. But I wouldn't last that long. As the third hit touched my tongue, it became too much to bear, and I reached for the glass of milk and speedily gulped it down, praying for escape from the fiery hell in my mouth.

I heard Reina's cocky laughter and I looked up at her. Even though her eyes were red and she was visibly suffering from the wasabi, she was putting on that face to rub it in that she won. But what she did next was just the icing on the cake.

"Looks like I win," she said smugly. She scooped up another large spoonful of wasabi. "And just to prove who the bigger man is…" She swallowed her fourth spoonful of wasabi and smirked at me.

She took no release from the milk or crackers. She just carried on eating her sushi. And to rub salt even further into my wound, every so often she would add some wasabi.

So much for having a nice dinner… I never expected her to be this power-hungry and competitive. That Reina we saw earlier – timid, shy, and quiet – was just a big façade she decided to play in order to get me to agree to her bet. I would have never accepted, no matter how many taunts, if I knew she was such a bad winner. But I'll make sure that one day she'll crumble beneath me. I won't allow myself to please her desire to toy with people. I've never been so excited.

As I watched her innocently enjoy her dessert with Honey-senpai, I smirked to myself. I may be wrong, but I do believe I'm witnessing the beginnings of rivalry here. That or a burning love, pun not intended.

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**Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated!**

**It may be a while until I update again; I have to focus on studying for my summer course exam.**

**Please stick around, though!**


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